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Sat, 10 Dec 2016 02:56:13 +0000Drumlapressen-gbSalt and Fire http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/3308-salt-and-fire.html
http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/3308-salt-and-fire.html

Salt and Fire by Werner Herzog, is a dramatic film inspired by a short story written by Tom Bissell. It tells of a United Nations scientific delegation, led by Laura (Ferres), which has been sent to Bolivia to collect data on an ecological disaster that is occurring. If conclusive, the data will expose Matt Riley (Shannon), the CEO of the large corporation responsible for this environmental destruction. Consumed by guilt at what he and his corporation have done by polluting the local landscape, Riley kidnaps Laura and her colleagues and holds them hostage. He then goes on to abandon her, along with two blind boys, into the middle of this infected landscape. Riley’s hope is that Laura will come away with such an intense feeling of rage from this man-made blight that the authorities will prosecute him and he will be found guilty and at long last be made to accept responsibility for the criminal wrongdoings that consume him.

Aside from a potentially interesting story line the film fails to deliver. Yes, we see Herzog’s familiar trademarks: the long, extended landscape shots, screeching cellos and violins in the musical scores and a protagonist who jumps in and out of rage and ultimately shows compassion toward her kidnapper. The film does not have a clear beginning, middle or end. It feels disjointed and you find yourself thinking this is just plain odd. It feels like you are viewing a senior project of a film student who just did not quite understand the assignment. (Abby M.)

Joy (Larson) has been kidnapped as a teenager, sexually abused and gotten pregnant in captivity. She has been cut off from any contact to the outside and is confined to one windowless room with her now five-year-old son Jack (Tremblay). Though the film doesn’t lack suspense this isn’t a crime thriller. It is a moving and inspiring story about parenting but also about ‘reality’ and ’perception’, told from the child’s perspective, with Oscar®--‐worthy performances, script (Emma Donoghue) and direction (Lenny Abrahamson). With maturity beyond her age, Joy has been able to spare Jack the nightmare that she lives every day and created a nurturing environment that not only is his whole world; he believes this is the world. She established a remarkable trust between them and taught him love and mindfulness for his surroundings by referring to each object without an adjective as if it was a given name: ‘Chair’, ‘Sink’, ‘Bed’, ‘TV’ or ‘Room’. When he starts acting up and questioning their situation, Joy realizes that they won’t be able to go on like this much longer and devises a plan to break free. (Carola A.)

All cinemas filled up fast. Many people searched for seats and asked if they could sit next to me. I answered, “Sure, but you’ll have to talk to me.” That earned some shocked faces as people debated a seat next to a crazy person, but I wasn’t as bad as they might have thought.

I talked to Maria from Vienna. She was aspiring to a career in the film business. She had a chance to work during the Berlinale in a special café open only to film makers who happened to be in Berlin for the event. During all of her free minutes, she went to films, which were just across the street from her third-floor café.

An older man said he worked for a radio station in Greece. I asked him his name and he said, “You’ve never heard of me.” He obviously was tired and discouraged conversation. He slept through the film.

Six young German women from Bielefeld were on a four-day holiday to experience the Berlinale. They bought tickets online, two at a time, so three of them took over this job for the others and almost always managed to get their first choices.

Angela and Inge from Berlin, both about 60, always go to many films at the Berlinale, with no preference for any certain ones. They realized that two of their films were going to overlap, so they gave me a ticket to the one they would miss. I actually got four tickets in this manner, and paid the normal price. (One man trying to sell a ticket to Cinderella at four times the normal price was laughed off the sidewalk.) The ladies kindly told me where to buy tickets to films showing at the Berlinale Palast, namely, across the street at the Blue Man Group Theater (where there was a special Berlinale line).

Another man next to me said he was a producer for Mr. Morgan’s Last Love (2013). He said he didn’t have much time to go to films since he more or less works fulltime with the filmmakers, but that night he took his wife to see Selma. After the film, he planned to drive her home, pick up his 17-year-old daughter and come back to see Life – the story of James Dean. That afternoon he had taken his 14-year-old daughter to Cinderella. His 11-year-old son isn’t really into films, and also his English isn’t good enough yet to understand the subtitles for foreign films. This producer said he spends lots of time at various film festivals, including, recently, Sundance and Shanghai, always interacting with film makers, and seldom actually watching a film. He was the only person I talked to in neighboring seats, who had chosen certain films. Everyone else was satisfied to watch any- and everything.]]>birgit.schrumpf@gmx.net (Birgit Schrumpf)Film ReviewsWed, 20 May 2015 13:29:48 +0000Nobody Wants the Night (Nadie quiere la noche)http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/2724-nobody-wants-the-night-nadie-quiere-la-noche.html
http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/2724-nobody-wants-the-night-nadie-quiere-la-noche.htmlIsabel Coixet - Spain/France/BulgariaIt seemed at first as though Nobody Wants the Night, directed by a woman and internationally produced, would be the perfect way to open the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. It would demonstrate the international qualities of the festival while also highlighting the high amount of woman-centric and created films at the festival. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be the case. Indeed, it turned out to be a curious choice as it proved to be a bit culturally insensitive and the story was very disappointing from a feminist angle. It is interesting that they chose to have a Japanese woman (Rinko Kikuchi) playing an Inuit, and by interesting I mean unfortunate. Were there truly no First Nation actresses who could have played the role? And Juliette Binoche’s character, Josephine Peary, is so naïve and harmful in her actions that the film hearkens back to an earlier time when women were always presented on film as being incapable of making good decisions. Perhaps this account of Peary’s actions is historically accurate, but the question must be asked, why did it need to be made into a film?A few beautiful shots of the arctic weren’t enough to save this frosty feature. Hopefully the next time they choose to highlight a woman-led production it could be something like the fascinating Sworn Virgin rather than the likes of this film. (RF)]]>birgit.schrumpf@gmx.net (Birgit Schrumpf)Film ReviewsWed, 20 May 2015 12:46:10 +0000The London Film Festival 2013http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/2267-london-film-festival-2013.html
http://www.awchamburg.org/articles/film-reviews/2267-london-film-festival-2013.htmlReported by Christine Riney

The 57th London Film Festival offered 234 feature films and 134 short films, as well as a lineup of over 150 directors and 110 stars including, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet. The LFF is primarily focused on British Talent in the film industry, however the showcased films were from 57 countries around the world. The 11 programme sections are titled to encourage discovery of Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic, Family, Experimenta and Treasures. In other words something for any and everyone. This is the UK’s largest public film event and the films were shown in 14 London venues as well as a number of big screens across the UK. Tickets for weekday screenings prior to 17:00 are £9.00, concessions £6.50, weekend and after 17:00 either £12.50 or £16.00, and for the Gala or Official Competition tickets cost £20.00, £26.00 or £32.00. There are plenty of tickets to go around and last-minute availability updates are sent via email. I had the good fortune to attend this glitzy event for the first time, as a regular member of the viewing public. Even though my time was short, as I had only four days out of the 12 days of the festival to explore all the London Film Festival had to offer, I did manage an interesting selection that provided me with a thirst for an expanded programme next year.

Upon arrival in London my first film was the Opening Night Film and European Premier of Captain Phillips. I was completely unprepared before I arrived in London and I thought I might see a film about Captain Mark Phillips, Princess Anne’s ex-husband. Although I was unsure of where that story line might lead, it was opening night and I was potentially going to stroll the red carpet with a royal or two, so I was looking forward to the experience. You can image my pleasure when the light bulb was illuminated and I found myself walking down the long red carpet, in Leicester Square, with Tom Hanks. Ok, maybe not ‘with’ but at least within the same time frame, as Tom Hanks appeared moments after I entered the Odeon Theatre. As a true fan, I cannot name a film in which Tom Hanks has acted that I did not like; this film did not disappoint. Captain Phillips is filmed on the high seas with fast-paced action and human characters that kept me firmly enthralled from beginning to end. Tom Hanks’ depiction of this ordinary guy who faced extraordinary peril is waiting for an Oscar nomination. Both the British director Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks deserved the appreciation shown by the audience. This film has something for everyone, high intensity, human interest, and superb acting.

The very next evening was another red carpet affair, Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The appearance of Sandra Bullock minus the enigmatic George Clooney did give me a moment’s pause, however, Sandra is the star of this film. I felt propelled through space along with the film’s characters right from the start. The only way to watch this big visual film is on a big screen making sure space can swallow you along with Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock).

My third film of the festival Starred Up - for which the screenwriter Jonathan Asser received the award for Best British newcomer honoring new and emerging film talent - was no less intense than the two blockbusters. The title sets the story line as starred up is British penal jargon for the promotion of a juvenile offender to adult status. Eric (Jack O’Connell) is a 19-year-old, very feral, very angry young man who is transferred to an adult prison where he finds Neville (Ben Mendelsohn), his estranged father, also locked up. Eric also finds a volunteer therapist and fellow inmates in his anger management group that provide a sense of belonging that this young man has never experienced. To actually have people who care and look out for Eric leaves him with options that might not involve a lifetime behind bars or at the very least a quiet existence behind them. Ben Mendelsohn’s depiction of a dangerous, psychopath father with paternal protective instincts is as scary as it is believable. The link between father and son’s violently aggressive behaviour does leave you to wonder the nature vs nurture theory, since we find out that they have not seen each other for many years. This film has the benefit of authenticity due to both the screenwriter’s, Jonathan Asser’s, first hand experience of working with violent criminals in Wandsworth prison and the hard-to-understand prison slang. At the Q&A I realised I was not the only one wishing for subtitles or whispering “what did he say” at times during the film.

The fourth and my final film was a French film, 11.6, based on the true story of the robbery of 11.6 million euros. In 2009 armored car driver Tony Musulin, daringly and without violence or weapons stole 11.6 million euros from the armored car he was driving. This understated thriller provides insight into a quiet, methodical man who has had enough of being taken advantage of by his penny pinching employers. François Cluzet’s (Intouchables) portrayal of Musulin as a gruff but trustworthy man strikes a genuine note leaving us understanding why Musulin was the toast of the town when he made off with all that cash. Given the nature of the crime it is easy to relate to and perhaps a great resignation fantasy - a final stick it to ‘the man’. Tony Musulin turned himself in as well as giving up the location of the all but 2.5 million euros. With Musulin’s release earlier this year perhaps we will have a further ending to this story.

All four of the films I watched were sold out and had either the actor, director or writer in attendance for Q&A after the film. Watching films is one thing but actual understanding of the motives, situations and human side of the stories we are engaging in takes the experience to another level. Suffice to say I am a London Film Festival convert; next year I already added the Hamburg FilmFest to my diary and as soon as dates are announced for the London Film Festival, I will add them, too.

I was extremely disappointed in the opening of the short film festival this year, especially since it is an anniversary year. Last year the speeches were dynamic and lively, and this year it felt like they were beating an old rug with a broom in search of flies. The opening films that they displayed last year were so interesting that I wanted to go to the festival and this year only one or two were exciting enough to tickle my nose. I definitely did like the film based on the poem Howl by Allen Ginsburg.

Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul attended the premier of Searching for Sugar Man at Cinemaxx on October 5. Before the film began, the thirty-five year old filmmaker, exuding boyish charm, spoke enthusiastically in basic German about having visited Hamburg before. He spontaneously shared the information that he had once had a German girlfriend. Then he sat down to watch the film with the rest of the moviegoers.

After the film ended, Bendjelloul switched to English to speak with the audience. Basking in the afterglow of the feel-good movie, Bendjelloul’s congeniality and warmth spoke right to the audience’s hearts when he told about his own personal journey in the Sugar Man saga. He explained that as a filmmaker of documentaries for Swedish TV he had been in search of the perfect story. He found it when he went to South Africa and hea*rd the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of Rodriguez. Initially his Swedish producers had supported him in his project. However, as the years went by and the documentary was close to being finished, he lost their financial backing. Out of desperation and with the help of good software he did both the animation (a child could do it, he confessed) and the score (with a $200 program) himself. By the time it was finished, the interest of the Swedish Film Industry had completely waned; he was told the documentary wasn’t good enough and would require a major overhaul.

Reluctantly he went off to work on other projects to earn money to survive. Not completely giving up, though, he approached producers Simon Chinn and John Battsekthe who loved the film and sent it off to the Sundance Festival. There, much to Bendjelloul’s amazement, it was immediately accepted and even chosen to show on opening night; there was no time (or need) for that rewrite. (It won the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best international documentary.)

As a member of the audience I asked about Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival where I had experienced firsthand the magical impact of Searching for Sugar Man on opening night. The director spoke elatedly about the festival where Rodriquez had made a surprise visit blowing away the hometown Michigan crowd. Almost as an aside Bendjelloul coyly added that Michael Moore is, after all, on the Oscar Committee; Searching for Sugar Man is entered in the upcoming Academy Award competition. Rodriquez, the director explained, wasn’t able to come to Hamburg because he was on a concert tour on the West Coast of the U.S. The singer had recently even made an appearance on the David Letterman Show. Bendjelloul revealed he had spent the artist’s seventieth birthday with him in San Francisco, working, not celebrating. Sixto Rodriquez’s career is now in full swing, yet he has no agent and no manager, just a seventy-year-old, female friend helping him out. Rodriquez’s secret, the filmmaker confided, is that he has no ego. Rodriquez himself once humbly claimed, „You want to know the secret to life? You just have to keep breathing in and out.“ The audience filed out of the theater along with Bendjelloul. He went to mingle with his fans in the lobby, amiable, personable, even after international acclaim, clearly the other heart and soul of this feel good movie.

If tomorrow you wanted to watch Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up, or Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935), this is easy to accomplish in Hamburg when you enter the cornucopia of cinema delights located at the corner of Grindelallee 37. Cinethek Filmgarten offers more than 10,000 separate titles—less than a handful of stores in Germany can make this claim—covering every genre that customers may browse through. The European term cinethek signals the store has great movie selections to rent, and the unique word filmgarten (garden) is the store’s creation to represent their “garden of beautiful films.”

Kilian Krause, who bought the store a few years ago, told me anyone may submit a title for consideration (I did), which is first checked for availability (mine wasn’t); then the significance of the film to their movie archive is carefully weighed. The vast number of otherwise hard-to-get-a-hold-of films is the biggest difference between chain rental stores and the dwindling number of privately owned video stores; I know of a couple long-lasting stores in Hamburg, one specialized in English language films, that have closed. Mr. Krause admits, “Videothek’s can only survive if they incorporate other businesses”. His diversifications under one roof include: a copy shop; computer hardware, software and repair; buying and selling records, music and film CDs and DVDs; audio books to rent and a Post office branch. “Cinethek is only a part of the whole (company).”

A concern of his is a new style of renting films, video-on-demand, that is “coming fast and big”. The premise is that films may be rented (downloaded) through the Internet for an allotted amount of time (normally 24 hours). This could be the death of videotheks. Although the industry says they will safeguard coping, etcetera, Mr. Krause is not convinced, citing the problematic situation that has developed with downloading music. By the time the industry “figures it out,” we may not have independent film rental stores to turn to: one less option, one more hassle, all in the name of relaxation.

So let’s enjoy and support our “independents” in Hamburg. It makes sense that Cinethek Filmgarten is conveniently located around the corner from one of the last, thriving independent cinemas, the Abaton.

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) is a struggling young boxer who gains experience in the underground boxing matches of Mexico. His supportive step-mother is not amused when he announces his intention to drop his job at the bank and follow a boxing career. With nowhere to turn, he ends up in Philadelphia, town of boxing champions Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa (both from prior Rocky films). Johnson is the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, who played 1985 in Rocky IV and who died before Adonis was born. Johnson relies on his own strength, outside of the shadow and reputation of his famous father. But, he doesn’t hesitate to rely on other former connections to visit retired boxer Rocky Balboa (Stallone), now running a small restaurant. The film follows his training under Rocky, the mental demands required to win, the physical demands (Johnson can jump rope very well), and the film’s final fight against Liverpool boxer Ricky Conlan.

Perhaps director Coogler thought, “What Star Wars can do, we can do as well.” He takes a successful series of films, in this case the six previous Rocky films, and presents a sequel into the present day. Just as Star Wars came out with new actors playing younger characters as well as retaining “oldies” such as Han Solo played by Harrison Ford, so did Coogler manage to convince Sylvester Stallone to come back into his role as Rocky Balboa. Stallone is still very presentable, and an excellent actor, even 40 years after the first Rocky in 1976, although here there is a side story about him fighting his failing health. Tessa Thompson plays Adonis Johnson’s singer girlfriend and is represented on the sound track with four songs. The entire soundtrack is an excellent accompaniment to the action in the ring. Anthony Bellew plays Conlan; Coogler found him online and he truly does originate from Liverpool, England, is a prize-winning amateur boxer and also an actor. He adds much charisma and a British accent to the storyline. It is filmed – where else – in Philadelphia, and, yes, they walk up the famous stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The film is enjoyable for its moral lessons, whether you like boxing or not, and it is not necessary to be too familiar with any of the prior Rocky films, although everyone surely recognizes, “Let’s get ready to rumble.” (Becky T.)

Urs Blank (Bleibtreu) is a good-looking business man in the obligatory suit and tie, well-known for his success in negotiating business mergers. He has the right wife and home and money. All is well except that he is also 45 years old. Need I say more? Mid-life crisis is pending. Naturally, opposites attract which takes him to his downfall via a hippie girl named Lucille. She entices him Into the Woods (not quite as fanciful as the film with that name) where he meets her hippie friends. They generously share their magic mushrooms. Perhaps because he is a virgin to this type of addiction, the aftereffects are serious. His personality and therefore, his life, changes drastically. He stops shaving and moves into the woods to live as a bearded hermit, more animal than human.

Who cares, except for perhaps his wife, who has enjoyed the financial cushion? The remainder of the film depicts his struggle to normality and the reaction of his co-workers. There is a constant violent tension, e.g., a cat turns into a monster, he chases a wolf and stabs both a deer and a dog; there is murder, suicide. Naturally, German actor Moritz Bleitreu is excellent as Blank and the best reason to see the film. The story was originally a book of the same name by Martin Suter. The film played in the 2015 Filmfest Hamburg. (Becky T.)